Senior Software Engineer, Gameplay Systems & Animation - Unpublished R&D Product

Riot Games • Los Angeles, CA

1d

About The Position

Riot engineers bring deep knowledge of specific technical areas but also value the opportunity to work in a variety of broader domains. As a Software Engineer, you’ll also dive into projects that focus on team cohesiveness and cross-team objectives. You’ll drive important features and provide other engineers with a clear illustration of extraordinary engineering.
As a Senior Software Engineer (Gameplay Systems & Animation ) on an unpublished R&D product, you will report to the Gameplay Engineering Lead, you’ll help bring our characters to life through responsive, expressive, and high-quality animation systems. You’ll work at the intersection of gameplay engineering and content creation — partnering closely with animators, designers, and technical artists to build scalable systems that power movement, locomotion, and moment-to-moment feel. This role collaborates with multiple groups within the gameplay team, contributing directly to the quality, polish, and performance of our core combat experience. The ideal candidate is passionate about player feel, thrives in cross-disciplinary collaboration, and takes pride in building robust systems that unlock content at scale.
For this role, you'll find success through craft expertise and a collaborative spirit that prioritizes the delight of players. We will look at your past studies and experience, but for this role, we also look for dedicated people with a personal relationship with games. If you embody player empathy and care about players' experiences, this is the role for you!

Requirements

• 5+ years of professional experience in game development.
• 3+ years of experience developing or supporting animation systems.
• Strong C++ programming skills and solid computer science fundamentals.
• Experience working with Unreal Engine, including its animation systems.
• Experience implementing gameplay systems closely tied to animation
• Strong debugging, optimization, and performance-tuning skills.
• Experience collaborating effectively in cross-disciplinary teams, with strong product sense and player empathy.

Nice To Haves

• Familiarity with Unreal Engine internals and extending or modifying engine animation systems.
• Experience improving content pipelines and animation workflows.
• Exposure to related domains such as gameplay VFX, camera systems, etc.
• Experience working on mid-sized engineering teams in a live or in-development game environment.

Responsibilities

• Design, prototype, and implement robust, scalable gameplay and animation systems, evolving underlying systems to improve reuse, polish, maintainability, and performance.
• Contribute to locomotion, movement feel, and animation-driven gameplay systems across multiple gameplay domains.
• Partner closely with animators and technical artists to improve workflows, clarify handoff points, and enable efficient content production.
• Identify technical risks in animation and gameplay systems and collaborate with technical leaders to implement sustainable architectural solutions.
• Contribute to adjacent gameplay domains such as combat systems, camera, VFX integration, or other core gameplay systems as needed.
• Mentor peers across disciplines by sharing insights on animation systems, gameplay feel, and technical problem-solving.

Benefits

• Riot focuses on work/life balance, shown by our open paid time off policy and other perks such as flexible work schedules.
• We offer medical, dental, and life insurance, parental leave for you, your spouse/domestic partner, and children, and a 401k with company match.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Education Level: No Education Listed
• Number of Employees: 1-10 employees